Friday, December 16, 2011

KT Countdown to Christmas Day #4 & 5

Day #3's winner is Laura from Phoenix - congrats and enjoy the tin full of Warm Memories. I loved reading all your comments about your favorite holiday treats. I'm inspired to try several - I know the grankids would really enjoy the candy cane cookies. My weakness is dark chocolate, so any cookies made with that and I'm off my diet. Breads are a close second - banana, pumpkin, cranberry, cinnamon rolls - mmmmm......

For Friday, we're going to do Day #4 and 5 (since I goofed on Wednesday). We can't let this Countdown to Christmas run over the 25th! Soooo, the 2 prizes for today will be a set of 3 QM 100 Quilt Blocks (issues #2,3,4) and a six pack of my favorite charm patterns - Summer Joy, KT Classic, Signs of Fall, Churn Dash, Cockscomb & Deck the Walls.

As I was shopping for the last couple of gifts on my list today, I remembered some of the most wonderful gifts I've ever received for Christmas. One of my all time favs is from jr. high when my parents gave me a rabbit fur jacket with leather sleeves. It seemed so cool and outrageously extravagant for the time (and not very politically correct now) and I wore it for years until the fur was almost all rubbed off. As a young Mom, my favorite things were the homemade ornaments and cards from my kids with glitter, Cheerios, buttons or yarn. I still have them and get them out each year. Recently, the best gift ever was my studio at the cabin. I really will take a picture soon and post it for you all to see where I work. I'm still rearranging and tweaking.
What was one of your favorite gifts and why?

80 comments:

The first thing that came to mind as I was reading this was the year we gave our daughter her very own Michael Jackson red jacket with all of the zippers. It was so exciting! We had taken the whole family to see him on tour in Jacksonville, FL. Victory tour I think, and then I took her to see it again in Miami. Thank you for the lovely giveaway.

When I was 5 yrs. old my father worked in the city and we lived in the country ( this is how it was said). He came home on Christmas Eve and brought me a beautiful coat and hat. It still brings tears to my eyes when I think of that Christmas Eve.

My favorite gift is a porcelain Santa whose coat is made of a red coat with a fur collar that belonged to my Grandma. I have a picture of her standing in the snow in front of their house, wearing that coat.

My favorite gift was from my hubby. He bought a Featherweight sewing machine for me one Christmas. I was totally surprised. But the very best part was that he also bought me a Bernina!!! I had no idea, and had not even asked for a new sewing machine. It was definitely the BEST Christmas presents yet.

My favorite Christmas present was a surprise oil painting of our four year old daughter that my husband had arranged to be painted by a local artist. Thirty years later, it is still hanging in our living room. Of course, this is also a nice gift.

As a child I received an Easy Bake Oven which I just loved and used as often as I could. I know that was the beginning of my love of baking and cooking as an adult. I just loved that oven and plan to buy one for my Granddaughter when she's old enough because I had so much fun with mine as a child.

I think my favorite gift probably was a little rubber baby doll that my grandmother gave me when I was just a little girl. My two sisters got one just like it. I loved that baby doll so much! I do know it was not the floor scrubber my husband gave me one year!!!

My best gift ever was the year my grandfather gave me cash to buy gifts for my two oldest kids. We were young, a one-income family (I was a stay at home mom at the time) and things were very tight. I still remember my grandfather handing me the cash and saying, "Go and get something special for the kids." He has been gone for over 30 years, but I still tear up when I think about his generosity and gift of love to me!

Every year my Mom used to get me a doll... when I was a little girl it was a baby doll that I carried around until the hair fell out... kind of like your rabbit fur jacket :)! When I got older they were just pretty dolls to set around, one year she even painted me a oil painting of a doll. When I lost my Mom 19 years ago, my husband picked up the tradition. At first it made me cry knowing he was doing something my Mom would have done if she could. I do not cry anymore, but it still warms my heart when I open that package with the doll in it.

I have two favorite all time gifts. One was from my daughter and she was about three. It was a pair of silver and amythest earrings. What makes them so memorable is that she wanted me to open them before she opened any of her own gifts! The second was a rocking chair from what turned out later to become my husband. He too was so excited to give it to me. He radiated joy as he presented it. As you can tell, for me it isn't really about the gift but rather who and how they gave it to me that makes it so memorable.Conny from Red Deer, Alberta

Oh my gosh, Lynne! Those charm patterns are so awesome. I especially love the Charming Churn Dash. <3My favorite Christmas gift was a vanity that my mom and dad made me when I was about 10. It was all painted in white and there was fabric across the front with little red balls fringing where the front opened. It was so special to me because I knew they made it themselves. A lot of love was put into it.

I hope I win the charm patterns. Two things come to mind when you ask of a favorite. When I was 9, my grandmother gave me a china tea set so I could have a tea party for my dolls. I still have it, it is still in its original box. I was alway very careful when I took it out to play. The second is the remote start my husband had custom installed in my car a few years back. It really helps to warm my car before I leave work in the WI winters. He says it's the gift that keeps on giving. By the way, I think my sister (Pat from Jamestown NY) had a rabbit jacket the you described.

My favorite gift comes from my childhood. When I was very small, my dad bought me a train set. With him being the only guy in the house, I think he really wanted to play with it. I did love that train and we had a lot of fun with it.

Thanks for another sweet giveaway. My favorite gift was one I didn't ask for as a child - an erector set. Yet, I played and built things for many years until my brother got hold of it and lost most of the connector widgets.

I think my favourite present would have to be a set of family thimbles - my great grandmothers, my great aunts and my great great grandmothers - I am not going to use them but it is wonderful to have such family history linked with the hobby I enjoy so much. Happy holidays.

My favorite present was a rose garden! My grandmother always grew roses; my favorite memories are helping her care for her roses. So one year my husband and children designed and then planted a rose garden for me! When they bloomed it brought such wonderful old and recent memories. Unfortunately we were in the Air Force and had to move and leave my rose garden behind but I still have a vase filled with dried petals and buds from that special garden.

Thank you for the opportunity to win all those great patterns! Char S.

my favorite gifts are the little ornaments and things my children made me as well, each year as we put them on the tree, memories just flood back about them and what was going on in their lives that year, just very special to me.Thanks for the wonderful giveaway I would love to win the magazines..Kathie

My favourite christmas gift is a vase, given to me from my mother in law.It's solid glass and there's always a big candle burning in it. (it's also safe with our small children ;-)We all enjoy the candlelight.

My favorite gift was a diamond necklace. We had agreed not to spend money on each other that year, but to buy a new TV for the house. The kids and grandkids came and left and I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. When I pulled back the covers to get in bed, I found the necklace on my pillow. My husband is not a romantic person and that's what made it so special

On Christmas morning I lifted up one of my presents which was a soft squishy but very heavy bag. I opened it up and there was a whole bag of hard beans in the bag. Why? My favorite phase phrase at that time was "Tough Beans". So my parents gave me "Tough Beans" for Christmas!

When I was little my favorite present was a beaded clutch my aunt that I barely knew sent me. I thought it was so fancy! I still have it--though I don't think I ever truly have used it I still love running my fingers over the beads and I can't get rid of it.

As a child, a true splurge was my Madame Alexander doll dressed in lavender which I still have. Grandmother also made fancy clothes for my doll from remnants on her old Singer treddle sewing machine while I stayed with her after Christmas on the farm. She lined the velvet capes, etc. I felt special that she took the time to do this.

Thanks for the double serving of giveaway. I can't think of any favorite gift which comes to mind right now but what I really like at Christmas (now that I am grown up) is a surprise! I tend to buy and organise the presents for everybody else so I always know what is in each present more or less and one year I remember that there was no surprise at all for me since I even knew in advance what my presents were (might have had to buy them myself) and it was very sad, partly spoiled the moment! Any unexpected gift is a great gift for me!

I can't think of any particular gift, it is the gifts that a given with a loving heart that are special, they don't need to be big or expensive, some of my treasured presents I have received over the years have been handmade or chosen by my children when they were small, and then later, my grandchildren.:)

A clear crystal heart necklace from my husband. Special to me as he picked it out himself and said I would always have his heart no matter where he was. He was so sick at the time. It makes me feel very close to him whenever I wear it.

Congratulation Laura.My best so far is a wonderful old tricycle my son found at the dump and thought I would like it for my garden.....and I do! It's old and rustic, one wheel is missing, it's a bit like him, not perfect but lovable.

I loved when my husband gave me a stand mixer on our first Christmas after we married. I had made so many cookies with a hand mixer, that I really appreciated how much easier it was with the KitchenAid. I still use it 25 years later.

My favorite gift was a pine hutch from my husband, custom made to hold my very special Christmas dishes that come out every December. I love it, and can now view the dishes year round! Thanks for a great week!

Oh, that's a tough question because like you I love the kid's ornaments from their young years. I still hang them on the tree. But one year my husband tricked me. He knows that I'm a stickler, always feeling, shaking packages. One year he wrapped a Folgers Jar with a ring inside of it. He got me!

I have two favorites...a pair of sparkly Christmas earrings my son picked out on his own and the doll beds and bedding Grandma made for my sister (Debbie in WI) and me when we were kids. The beds were made out of orange crates that were painted. We each got a handmade mattress, sheets, blankets and a pillow for the beds. The bed is long gone but I still have the bedding and the Tiny Tears doll that occupied the bed. And I did have a white rabbit jacket and also a long grey wool coat trimmed in blue fox. I liked the fox fur the best!

My favorite Christmas gift was a half carat diamond from my husband that he hid in our big roaster box and rewrapped it. Once I opened the roaster, I was really confused and only found Santa Dollars (used towards a future jewel purchase at a leading jewelry store). Little did I know that there was a diamond still hidden in the roaster after I passed it off as the Santa Dollars being the gift. He really surprised me that year! He's such a good guy!

My favorite Christmas gift is a lindy star necklace my husband gave me when we were dating. We had broken up and just got back together again and I knew when I got it where our relationship stood. It still is one of my treasures after 34 years of marriage.

As a child, it was my Thumbelina doll-these were full size baby dolls with the wind up on the back to make them move. Later, they made them a LOT smaller. She was destroyed in a house fire when I was in 6th grade. As an adult, it is the full size ceramic nativity that my mom made for me when I was in college.

My favorite gift was, and still is, a ring with a small dark red ruby that my now husband gave me for Christmas one year. It was extravagant for him and I just love it. The smile on his face was so sweet and he was as excited as I was. After that, I'd love to win a prize!!

I think my favorite gifts have been pieces of antique furniture. Antiques are my other passion (after quilts)' but they are not my husband's passion. So when he buys one as a gift, I know it is from the heart. The walnut hall tree from many Christmas' ago always has a place of honor in whatever house we are living in. Judy.

I'll never forget the Christmas I wanted a transistor radio. I think I was around 11 or 12. We opened all our gifts and it wasn't there. I was so disappointed. Then my Mom and Dad told me to look under a chair...there seemed to be another gift. Voila...my radio. I was the true "transistor sister", perched on my shoulder to listen to all those wonderful 50's and 60's tunes.

A favorite gift was the combination Christmas and 25th anniversary. I had developed arthritis in my knuckles many years earlier and could no longer wear my wedding rings. My husband totally surprised me with a new ring! We didn't have the money for this, so he had put it on lay-away six months in advance and had been paying for it out of each paycheck. I was really touched he would do something so thoughtful and generous for me. And...I hope I win today's give-away!!

I got a trip to Hawaii about 25 years ago and had never been before so I think that was probably the most exciting thing I ever got for Christmas. We went over the New Year's holiday and had a great time.Mary

My favourite gift is the one that is a total surprise, it wasn't on my wish list and it is something I would love. Often my DH picks from my wish list but every once in a while he totally wings it. One memorable year he gave me furniture for my sewing room, which was so unexpected and so wonderful!Just put me in the drawing for the patterns. I have those magazines (but I'm missing issue 1). Thanks for the giveaway.

I went to live with my Dad & step-mom when I was a freshman in high school. It didn't go well, and I "came home" at Christmas time. That year, my sister gave me a "heart beat bear." It was a bear that had a plastic "beating" heart in a pouch in it's back. When you pressed the heart, you could hear it. She was going to send it to me because she missed me. What a special gift between sisters!!! (especially ones that used to fight ALL of the time! LOL)

12 years ago my husband surprised me with an embroidery sewing machine! I love that workhorse! Than last year he tried so hard to buy me clothes that just didn't fit so I exchanged them all for a serger! I tell him even though that isn't what he really got me the end result was the best!

A few years back my husband surprised me with a Singer Featherweight sewing machine. My quilting teacher used one. One by one we all got one in our class. I've put alot of miles on that machine. I love it.

When I was a preteen my Mom AKA Santa left a wind up toy horse under the tree. I was horse craxed and had asked for a horse every year for forever and every year I got some kind of horse, although never live. This toy would wind up and move across the floor. I thought it was for my younger brother because it was windup. I loved that horse, I played with it until it broke. I think that's when I learned how much my Mom loved and knew me and how much interest and time she was willing to give to get just the right gift.

I was 3 years old. We have a tradition (well over 100 years) in our rural community of a community "Christmas Tree" complete with poems and songs by the little ones, the Nativity reading, the old familiar Christmas carols that everyone sings along, and then the highlight (for the children) Santa Claus! My folks, my older brother and I were sitting near the front, when Santa Claus came in. He talked to all the children as he came up the aisle, giving them all a candy cane. Finally it was my turn! He asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I told him a baby doll and a truck (strange bedfellows, but...)Imagine my excitement the next morning when I found the requested baby doll and not only a truck, but a Car Carrier truck that had more trucks on it! I've received many gifts over my 53 years, but I can't remember any of them as well as that Christmas that I first saw Santa Claus. My Grandchildren have been blessed to see Santa Claus there ever since they were born, and I hope this tradition carries on for at least the next 100 years.

My most favorite Christmas gift came from my Grandmother. A few years ago, she kept sayingthat she had no idea why anyone would want to collect old kitchen stuff. She said, I had to grow up with this old stuff, I want new. WhenI unwrapped my gift that year, I got her cookbook that came with her wood cook stove whenshe got married. My great grandmother hadwritten recipes for her in the inside covers.I just cried. I was so happy.

Eye of the Storm

Windmills on the Plains

KT Shining Stars

Piecing the Past

About Me

I'm a wife, mom, gramma and quilter - not necessarily in that order. My husband, Robert, and I have 6 grown children and 8 grandkids between us ranging from 4-14 years of age. Our busy lives are centered around our families, our business - Kansas Troubles Quilters - and our mutual love for all things old. Robert works with me at KTQ as chief printer, bookkeeper and general "make-the-designer-happy" guy while I design fabric for Moda and create simple, pieced, country quilts that are easy and fun to live with. In our spare time, we enjoy antique shopping, attending plays and hanging out at our little cabin. Right now, life is good and I've got the t-shirts to prove it!